Review: Marek Edelman, The Ghetto Fights, War- saw 1943-45

Jim O’Connell

thrown up by Edelman’s account, as in the in- cident described where three children sitting one behind the other were shot, possibly for sport, possibly to further instill terror, or the description of the burned corpses of mothers with babes in arms. Having on record the first-hand account of someone like Edelman and the fact that he survived the conflict is a rare piece of fortune. After the war he re-focused his attention on the fight against Stalinism and played a part in the Solidarity trade union. He was also an active participant in support for displaced and re- mained true to his anti-Zionist beliefs. This may have had the effect of drawing attention away from his part in the Ghetto Uprising. Marek Edelman, The Ghetto Fights, 1943-45 Bookmarks 2013 £8 One of the questions that frequently comes up when this and similar accounts are considered, as well as the overall plight of the This 2013 edition by Bookmarks UK is a of the period, was why in most cases it reissue of the 1990 edition by the same pub- took so long before they began to resist - sadly lishers and includes a new introduction by in most cases even when they did decide to re- John Rose who also wrote the 1990 introduc- sist, it was too late. One simplistic answer to tion. this question could be as recounted by Edel- The book is subtitled Warsaw 1943-45, man at one point when he says: ‘The Ghetto however the core component of the book is did not believe’. the account by Marek Edelman of the events During the early days of the Ghetto and of the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto. His account indeed to different degrees even later on, begins in 1939 and ends in May 1943 though many aspects of normal social life contin- the introduction deals briefly with events after ued to exist relatively unaffected by the en- 1943. This edition also contains two appen- forced confinement and growing instances of dices, one of reports from the Jewish workers’ deportations and physical abuse. Some of underground and the other of correspondence the wealthier members of society carried on a relating to the 1990 edition. relatively privileged existence while their fel- Some of the incidents described by Edel- low residents died of hunger on the streets. man are truly shocking, or arguably would be Commerce continued along with black-market truly shocking to readers who had lived with- dealings for profit. In such an environment it out reading any other accounts of the Holo- might be that even those people with most caust or had not seen some of the harrowing access to information (by paying for it) re- depictions in books, newsreels, internet and fused to believe that the same fate that was TV. It might seem that we are now so famil- visited on the lower classes could be inflicted iar with these atrocities that their impact is on themselves. lessened. That being said it must be diffi- After the deportation schedule had been cult for any reader to forget easily the images completed there were some 60,000 Jews left

80 in the city, by Edelman’s account. From this evitable when looking back at times of strug- time he speaks of how the ‘Pinkert Boys’ the gle and momentous conflict that there are gravediggers and garbage collectors became nearly always conflicting accounts as to who wealthy because they were able to smuggle did what and when and it might be simpler ‘valuables’ that could no longer be used in the for a reader to dismiss such conflicts as not ghetto, to the Aryan side. He also says that so important in the overall scheme of things. every inhabitant of the ghetto dreamed of be- However it would seem to this reviewer that coming re-established on the Aryan side. Was in this instance it is important to consider this because they now believed at this par- this issue because of the assumption, into the ticular juncture, when the deportations were Zionist narrative of its own history, the po- stopped, that the threat of total annihilation sition of this particular struggle and others was lessened or removed? Did they believe as well as the powerful sway held by Zion- that the conditions and events that had re- ism today in the state of and the Oc- cently taken place and were affecting Jews in- cupied Palestinian Territories. Every ideol- side the ghetto would not have the same effect ogy has a tendency to keep reflecting on its on Jews who managed to make it out of the own view of history in an effort to reinforce ghetto? Or was it just a dream that they re- itself. It is worth noting that, in the last ally knew could never be fulfilled? installment of the correspondence, Rose’s re- The third section of the book is a re- sponse to Grayek’s criticisms (Stefan Grayek, port on the uprising published by the Bund President World Federation of Jewish Fight- (Jewish Socialist Party). Understandably it ers, Partisans and Camp Inmates) includes is a more polished account than that of Edel- praise for Grayek’s heroic role in history and man’s and has a kind of a propaganda feel also an acceptance by Rose of the possibility to it with its relatively liberal use of opin- that the Bund had waited too long to join ion. This doesn’t take away from its value with the Zionists because of the importance as a compilation of first-hand accounts. No- they (the Bund) placed on their own alliance tably, it touches on the fact of the existence of with the Polish Socialist Party. Rose goes on other relevant groups inside the ghetto; some- to deal with his assessment of the reasons for thing not mentioned in Edelman’s account. this delay, mainly, in his opinion, the fatalism One group, the Revisionists, the report says: of the Zionists. Such fatalism could be seen ‘formed a small ’Organization for vengeance’ as a major operational hindrance to organized of their own which ceased to exist after the resistance when deciding to take a stand in a second day of battle’. Of course Edelman fight against very possible annihilation. John was a member of the Bund within the ZOB Rose is a widely respected authority on Jew- (the Jewish Fighting Organization); however ish religion and history and has been a long it might have been useful to have some discus- time critic of Zionism, writing extensively on sion of other groups in the ghetto, possibly as the subject. That a personage such as Grayek part of Rose’s introduction. with his own high profile and history as part In this edition’s introduction, Rose wastes of the should engage in such no time in addressing the controversy that a debate with Rose could be seen as a recogni- followed on from his original introduction to tion of the importance of his Rose’s opinions the 1990 edition following its publication in on these subjects. Britain. Correspondence relating to that con- As noted above the core section of the troversy is reproduced in a later section of this book is Marek Edelman’s own first-hand ac- edition. This correspondence deals with an count of events in the . Rose’s argument around the actual level of impor- introduction sets the scene. He describes how tance of the Bund as a component of the ZOB the conditions in the ghetto came about as as opposed to the role of the Socialist Zionists. part of the Nazi plan of the Final Solution. It could be argued that it may be in- He then goes further and deals with the in-

81 fluences on the situation of the historic, ge- what the Ghetto fighters did in taking a stand ographical tug of war exerted on the terri- was unavoidably necessary given that the Ger- tory of by the neighbouring powers, man forces made it clear that their goal was particularly by Germany and Russia who he the total annihilation of the residents of the describes as having ‘a long and treacherous ghetto and that by taking a stand the rebels history of occupying Poland’. He also dis- were likely to be killed in no worse a fash- cusses the effect on Stalin’s actions (or inac- ion than if they agreed to be deported. How- tions) because of his plans to occupy Poland ever, some ghetto residents, although admit- after the war. In 1944 the advancing Red tedly very few, managed to escape by means Army remained camped on the opposite bank of a route which had been available since the of the Vistula from Warsaw while the German main deportations began. The fact is that counter-attack decimated the Polish insurrec- the rebels chose to remain long after it was tion. Cynically, Stalin knew that a weakened obvious that they were scheduled for exter- Polish resistance would mean less organized mination. This would suggest that they be- resistance to Soviet occupation when it in- lieved their struggle could make a difference. evitably came. This event took place some Support for their belief may be taken from re- time after the Ghetto fights had ended with ports of the encouraging effect of the Warsaw the almost total annihilation of the Ghetto Ghetto Uprising on Jews in other ghettos and Resistance fighters and the Jewish popula- on the Polish Resistance. tion, however it is an important indicator of That the accounts of those events con- the plight of the Polish populace and their po- tained in this book should have an encourag- sition between the forces of Hitler and Stalin. ing effect on every reader engaged in struggle It might be understandable to think that against oppression seems undeniable.

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